Let Me Walk With You
by hearthandhomeauthor
Summary: Raul is a grown man with his own growing family when tragedy brings him back home. Will he let revenge take control? Or will he find his way back to the truth before the people who have been his family since childhood suffer the consequences? Set in present day 2019.


_**The show **_**DOC **_**was one of the greatest highlights of my childhood. I watched it on PAX years ago when it originally was airing in re-runs over and over. Each episode was filled with so much heart, emotion, and raw energy that latched onto my heart and never left. I recently rewatched the series and have been wanting to write a DOC-inspired story of my own. The year is 2019 for the characters of the beloved show as well. Raul is married and beginning a family. Many things have caused the once tight-knit family to go their separate ways over the years as will be revealed. Yet tragedy has brought them together during what should have been one of the best times of Raul's life. But not everything is as it seems.**_

_**I'm looking forward to writing this story and sharing it with you all. These characters have a very special place in my heart. And I hope you all will enjoy a walk into what life might be like for these characters in present day. Thanks as always for your support! God Bless, 'Kath' xx**_

* * *

**LET ME WALK WITH YOU**

**Chapter One**

**"Broken Reunion"**

* * *

He could have held off a hundred criminals with his acquired strength. Yet he could barely hold on to the delicate frame in his hands as he released it back onto the dusty shelf just in time before it would have shattered into hundreds of pieces on the floor. He forcefully smeared away the tears forming in his eyes before moving on down the line of photographs before he finally couldn't take it anymore. His punch into the final frame sent glass flying all around him, the little dots of blood on his knuckles smearing over the faces on the glossy paper. He couldn't believe they were gone…for good.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Raul turned to see Lauren standing in the doorway of the apartment he had grown up in. He cleared his throat and tried his best to hide the injury from the woman he loved. "Yeah, um, I'm okay. I just can't believe it…you know." He brushed passed Lauren and out into the hall.

Lauren found him several long moments later huddled on the stairs leading down into the basement. She managed to find a seat next to her husband despite her growing belly and reached for Raul's hand. It was loose in hers as she sensed his thoughts were so far away from her. He had fallen into such a deep grief. And who could blame him really?

"Is there anything I can do?" Lauren asked lamely and quietly, knowing nothing she could ever say would heal his deep-cut wounds.

Raul shook his head. His hands grip on hers tightened. "You're doing it right now." He planted a kiss on his wife's forehead. "I'll be fine. Promise."

"I'm glad. Do you want me to call and tell everyone you're not up to see anyone right now?"

"No," Raul was quick in answering. "It's okay. I want to see everyone. I need to see Clint."

"Okay. Do want me to stay for a little while longer?"

Raul shook his head. "No, you go on ahead. Nancy said she'd be here to pick us up any minute. You go on ahead. I'll be there later."

"Are you sure."

Raul squeezed her hand. "Go."

Lauren didn't want to leave him alone like this. But she knew he'd never let his grief spill over into her heart if he could let it. But it was too late. They loved each other too much to let one or the other suffer alone.

Just as Raul had predicted, Nancy was waiting by the curb, holding the cab door open with her bright smile. "There you are. I was beginning to wonder if you two had changed your minds."

"No. Raul said to go on without him," Lauren explained, casting a glance behind her before her gaze fell to the pavement. "I'm worried about him, Nancy."

"I know you are. I felt the same way for Clint when we buried Doc Harvey last year. But you've seen him get back to his old self. He had to. Raul will heal. We all will."

Nancy wrapped the young woman in a quick embrace. It was then that the tears spilled over from Lauren's eyes in front of the entire New York curb. Nancy held her close, knowing only letting it out would ever help the girl.

"I'm just so upset that our baby will never meet his grandparents. My family is gone. Raul's family is gone. It's just us. I can't bear to think about a life without Nate and Beverly. They meant the world to Raul. They would have been so proud to be grandparents."

"I know," Nancy repeated several times, her own emotions surfacing into tears as years of memories flooded her mind. "I miss them too. More than you'll ever know. We'll all miss them terribly. Trust me. There won't be a dry eye for a while."

Lauren pulled away and wiped at her eyes, somehow ashamed for making a scene. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't apologize," Nancy begged. "Now let's get into the cab. We should get over to the clinic as soon as possible."

Lauren nodded and proceeded to follow suit. She glanced one more time back at the apartments and watched them fade as the cab pulled away. She whispered a prayer that her husband would find strength somewhere in him to pick up the pieces and move on…no matter how hard he'd find it to be. She'd be with him the whole way. They both would, she remembered, laying a hand on her unborn child. Somehow…she hoped they would know them as she had. But what she prayed most of all is that their heart would shine through their son no matter how long it took him to overcome the grief he was walking through at that very moment.

* * *

Clint was waiting with open arms when Nancy and Lauren arrived at the old clinic. He held the tearful young woman for a while with his wife before the others began to filter into the foyer in the afterhours to greet an old friend. Everyone was there…almost everyone. Mrs. Dewitt was currently on vacation with her little family. Gracie Hebert was stuck at college, her freshman year treating her well according to her proud parents. Dr. Crane, the now director of the clinic was late. Tippy reported his absence was because of a meeting of the corporate directors. Besides these missing persons, everyone else had managed to be there when the news had broken.

"How's Raul holding up?" Clint asked Lauren.

"He's not taking it very well," Lauren confessed.

"None of us are." Dr. Hebert stepped forward with a hug for the girl. "Nellie and I are here for you. Whatever you need don't hesitate to ask."

"Thanks so much. It's not going to be easy. I hated to see Raul like he is. I've never seen him want to be physically violent. It scared me, Clint."

"I understand, Laurie honey. Just give him time. We all need time to accept this."

"How can you say that?" A voice parted ways through the crowd of people and stepped forward. "I thought you of all people wouldn't be able to just accept this. I knew this was a mistake."

Raul stormed back out of the clinic with Lauren chasing after him.

"Raul! Don't do this!"

Raul wheeled around, fury in his breath. "What do you want me to do, Lauren?! Just walk up in there and take the hugs and well-wishes? They're dead! They're never coming back! How can I ever try to accept that?! Nate and Beverly meant the world to me! If all of you are just gonna move on then you can move along without me. I won't forget this. Ever."

"Raul, nobody is asking you to forget them! But we have to move on. We don't have a choice."

"Yes!" Raul quipped. "We always have a choice."

"Don't you understand? All of us are grieving just like you are!"

"It doesn't look like it!"

"Then maybe you should take a closer look!"

Raul began to walk away. "I've seen all I want to see."

Lauren started to follow him with a tearful cry shaking on her vocal chords. But a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She looked behind at Nancy and Clint watching Raul walk into the twilight away from them and any comfort they could offer.

"He'll do something he'll regret," Clint said just above a whisper.

Nancy nodded in understanding and led them back into the clinic. There was little else to say than a prayer that Raul would find his way back to them…eventually.

* * *

Endless thoughts bombarded his mind one after another as he traced the streets of New York as quickly as his feet could take him. He was running. Running from the pain. Running from his responsibilities. Running from the voices inside his head. Many of those voices were voices from the past. Every corner he turned onto another street was another path he and Justin had ran across when they were kids. Raul almost wanted to laugh at the thought of how stupid they once were getting them both into all sorts of trouble. But it was always them…it was the two people who had chosen him to be their son that got them out of scrapes and taught them God's way…the right way. But now it felt like all that was for nothing…especially since they were gone.

Half an hour past once Raul found solace by one of his old childhood haunts, a public water fountain display just four blocks from Westbury, when he felt a shadow nearby. He ignored it as long as he could, staring right into the heart of the statue above him.

"I thought I'd find you here," a distinguished male voice finally broke the silence.

The voice was immediately familiar and welcome. Raul almost caught himself smiling…almost…as he turned to see a well-dressed lawyer he had yet to congratulate since he had crossed the bar last year.

"Elliot," Raul beamed, reluctantly letting the other give him a sizeable hug. "What are you doing here? Did Lauren tell you I was here?"

"Do I detect a note of cynicism in your voice? But rest assured, my dear comrade, I found you on my own accord. I stopped by the clinic for the reunion party. They all told me what happened. Somehow I knew you'd find your way here."

"Nate used to bring us boys here every Sunday he could. Sometimes Clint would come too. I always imagined when Lauren got pregnant that Nate and I would bring my kid here too."

"You still can, Raul," Elliot patted his best friend on the back. "Besides, I think Nate would want you to carry on such a fond tradition no matter if he was here to share in it or not."

"I know," Raul replied quite unconvincingly. His head was bowed and his heart heavy. "Why? Why Nate and Beverly?! Nearly twenty years fighting some of the hardest streets in the US, and they had to die. Why?"

Elliot could feel the anger in each syllable of his best friend's cry. "Some things aren't for us to know," he said lamely, his usual smart advice failing him at such a crucial moment.

"They'll pay," Raul stated plainly. "I don't care how long it takes me. I will find out why the police won't give me answers. No one will tell me a thing. I will find out who's to blame. And they'll pay, Elliot. Believe me. They will pay."


End file.
